New York ISIS Bomb: Noelle Velentzas, Asia Siddiqui Arrested For Allegedly Plotting To Set Off Bomb After Being Radicalized By Islamic State

Federal authorities arrested two women Thursday, charging that they had been radicalized by the Islamic State group and were plotting to build and set off a bomb in the New York City area, ABC News reported. The arrest was the result of a long undercover operation by the FBI.

The women were radicalized through online propaganda from the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, authorities said. It was not clear how far their alleged plans to build a bomb, in the form of an improvised explosive device, had progressed by the time they were arrested, but ABC News said the public was not in danger at any point.

The women — 27-year-old Noelle Velentzas and 31-year-old Asia Siddiqui, both of Jamaica, Queens — were swayed by ISIS propaganda, reports said. Sources say Siddiqui “is currently in possession of multiple propane gas tanks, as well as instructions for how to transform propane tanks into explosive devices.”